Donavan McNabb Dons the Burgundy and Gold

As I said in my last post, one of the exciting parts of spring is the offseason of the Washington Redskins. It is always an exciting time with big time deals and signings. One of those happened today, as the Redskins received Eagles quarterback Donavan McNabb in a trade for a 2010 2nd round pick and either a 3rd or 4th round pick next year. I was shocked by this move. The Redskins had been positioning themselves to draft a quarterback, and it is a Golden Rule of the NFL not to trade a key impact player to a team in your own division. I think the Redskins did this as part of their plan to draft a quarterback. Since the management takeover, it has been fairly obvious that the team wanted to part ways with current starting quarterback Jason Campbell. They did not want to throw a rookie quarterback into a position he is not ready for, so they took McNabb, who has one year left on his contract. In that one year, McNabb can take control of the team and help develop Bradford, who it is suspected the Redskins will draft. It is similar to the reason the Capitals signed Jose Theodore two years ago: get a veteran presence who can get the job done with the young guy (Varlamov) develops into his starting role on the team. It is a move that we won't be able to judge until we see now McNabb fits into this team, but so far it looks Spring Hopeful, especially with the strength of the Redskins running game. That should really help McNabb push through. Come this fall, we'll see just how good McNabb looks in the Burgundy and Gold.